Wagon-brake



(No Mom.) 2s'heens sheet 1.

' G. D. SMITH.

WAGON BRAKE.

No. 471,030. Patented Mar. 15, 1892.

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2 Sheets-Sheet 2. G. D. SMITH. WAGON BRAKE;

(No Model.)

No. 471,030. Patented Mar. 15, 1892.

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GOODIVIN D. SMITH, OF ROME, TEST VIRGINIA.

WAGON-BRAKE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 471,030, dated March 15, 1892.

Application tiled November 5, 1891. Serial No. 411,007. (No model.)

To all whom t may concern.-

Be it known that I, GOODWIN D. SMITH, a citizen of the United States, residing at Rome, in the county of Kanawha and State of Test Virginia, have invented a new and useful Tagen-Brake, of which the following is a specification.

The invention relates to improvements in automatic brakes for vehicles.

The object of the present invention is to provide for vehicles a simple and inexpensive automatic brake which will be entirely controlled by the draft-animals both in pulling and backing and in which the pressure exerted on the wheels by the brake-shoes may be readily regulated and adj usted to the character of vehicle andthe load to be drawn.

The invention consists in the construction and novel combination and arrangement of parts hereinafter fully described, illustrated in the accompanying drawings, and pointed out in the claims hereto appended.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a plan view of a running-gear provided with an automatic brake constructed in accordance with this invention. Fig. 2 is a reverse plan view.

Fig. 3 is a longitudinal sectional View. Fig. 4 is a transverse sectional view.

Like numerals of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the figures of the drawings.

1 designates a running-gear having mounted on its rear hounds 2 a brake-bar 3, which is provided at its ends with brake-shoes 4 and which is normally held with said shoes against the Wheels 5 by spiral springs 6, and the brake-bar is guided in its movements by a frame 7, composed of front and rear crossbars 8 and 9 and side bars 10, secured to the upper faces of the cross bars which are mounted on the rear hounds. The springs 6 are interposed between the front cross-bar S and the brake-bar 3 and have their rear ends secured to the latter and their front ends attached to a plate 11, arranged adjacent to the front cross-bar and having swiveled to it an adjusting-screw 12, arranged in a threaded opening of the front cross-bar and constituting with the plate a tension device where by the springs may be adjusted and adapted to the weight of a load and to the character 0f vehicle. By compressing the springs their tension is increased and a pressure exerted by the brake-shoes on the wheels is correspondingly increased, and by distending the springs the pressure is diminished.

lVhen the vehicle is at rest, the springs hold the brake-shoes against the wheels; but as soon as the draft-animals exert a strain upon the doubletree 13 the wheels are relieved of the pressure exerted by the brake-shoes and are free to turn, and as soon as the animals cease their pulling-as, for instance, when the vehicle is going downhill-the brake will be applied, and the pressure upon the w-heels varies inversely with the strain exerted by the draft-animals upon the whifiietrees.

The doubletree 18 is pivotally connected to the front end of a slotted plate 14, which has its rear end connected by chains 15 and 1G with the lower ends of brake-levers 17, and the latterhave their upper ends fulcrumed on rods 1S, extending from the frame 7, and are connected intermediate their endsto the brake-bar, whereby when the doubletree is moved forward by the draft-animals the brake-shoes will be drawn off of the wheels. The brake-levers are arranged at an angle and diverge upwardly and have their,1ower ends connected to the rear end of the chain v16. The adjacent ends of the chains 15 and 16 are connected to a lever 19, which is fulcrumed on the reach 2O to enable the brake to be operated by a slight pull, and the plate is limited in its longitudinal movement by a projection 21, arranged in the slot 22 of the plate 14.

The slotted plate 14 is mounted on the rear end of the tongue 23, which has its front end recessed on its lower face and provided with a keeper 24, adapted for the reception of a neck-yoke 25, arranged on the lower face of the tongue and connected by a chain 26 and a rod 27 with the plate 14. The rod has its rear end attached to the plate 14 and is arranged in guides 28, and has its front end connected to the chain- 26, which passes through a slot 29 of the keeper 24 and around a pulley 30, and has its front end secured to the neck-yoke. The pulley is arranged in a bifurcation of the front end of the tongue and enables the chain to move freely. In backing a vehicle the draft-animals exert a backward strain on the neckyoke, which IOO moves the slotted plate and whiletree forward and takes the brake-shoes olf the Wheels, the same as when startinga vehicle. By this construction it will readily be seen that the automatic brake is entirely under the control of the draft-animals, that a vehicle may be readily moved forward or back Without interference by the brake, and that in descending hills a vehicle will be kept olf of the draftanimals, the Wheels being relieved of the pressure of the brake-shoes and the latter being applied as the draft-animals pull upon the traces or slacken up on the same.

It will be seen that the automatic brake is entirely under the control of the draft-animals, that it does not interfere with backing a vehicle, and that it is of great advantage in descending hills and inclines. It will also be found advantageous in ascending a hill, as the horses may be readily rested at any point.

l. The combination of a running-gear, a brake-bar mounted on the same and provided with brake-shoes arranged to engage the wheels, springs arranged to engage the brakebar to hold the shoes against the Wheels, a bar mounted on the running-gear and provided with a threaded opening, a tension device for regulating the pressure of the springs, comprising a plate attached to the springs and an adj Listing-screw swiveled to the plate and engaging the threaded opening of said bar, and means for withdrawing the brakeshoes from the wheel, substantially as described.

2. The combination of a running-gear, a spring-actuated brake-bar mounted on the running-gear and provided at its ends with brake-shoes, rods extending from the running-gear and arranged adjacent to the brakebar, and brake-levers arranged at an angle and having their upper ends fulcrumed on the rods and connected intermediate their ends with a brakebar and connected with a whifetree, substantially as described.

3. The combination of a running-gear, a spring-actuated bar mounted on the same and provided at its ends with brakeshoes, brakelevers connected to the brake-bar, the rods extending from the running-gear and arranged above the brake-bar and forming fulcra-points for the brake-levers, a lever 19 fulcrumed on the reach, a plate mounted on the tongue and havinga limited longitudinal movement and carrying the Whitlietrees, and connections between the lever 19 and the brake-levers and the plate, substantially as described.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I have hereto alixed my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

GOODWIN D. SMITH.

IVitnesscs:

S. C. MARTIN, JNO. H. 

